Tmobile changes fair use policy to 500MB?

atlantis187

I'm on t-mobile sim only plan which I took out in sept 09

My current contract is
600mins 500txt
web and walk plus 18
and 1 unlimited boostser (europe & australiasia)

I pay £5 a month for this discounted down from £15 on a 12month contract.

I have not received any text I am regulary using nearly 3GB a month

BurningSnowman

So, this sucks. I haven't bothered contacting TM except via Twitter, given they haven't even given me notice of the change. Def. used >500MB streaming music some months, and so it's of 'material detriment'. Sent the following to Consumer Direct, summarising how I see the terms.

I don't think we can simply cancel using the below, because they have made 2.11.2 impossible to invoke validly by not giving 30 days notice (or, in my own case, any at all so far). So I guess I have to threaten to actually take them to court, because they have breached 2.11.2 themselves.

Any comments welcome.

I took out a 24-month mobile phone contract with T-Mobile, through their reseller BuyMobilePhones.net, on 1st April 2010. The offer was £15/month plus a £29.99 one-off charge, for a plan offering 300 mins, 300 texts and "Unlimited" data, where the summary stated that "Unlimited" Internet had a 1GB Fair Usage Policy.

T-Mobile are apparently now dropping the data limit to 500MB, and applying the change to existing contracts. I often use more than this. I think this is in breach of contract and that they should have to exclude existing contracts or accept cancellation of the contract without penalty.


I have not contacted them yet, since they have not opted to send me any notice yet! However this seems to be public knowledge and affects all customers.


I think I should be able to cancel because of the following clause:


* 2.11.2. If You are a Consumer and the change is of material detriment to You, We will send You Written Notice 30 days before the terms and conditions are due to change. The new terms and conditions will apply to You once that notice has run out, unless You terminate Your Agreement with Us within that notice period. If You do this You won’t have to pay any Cancellation Charge that would otherwise apply, see point 7.2.3.2.


They are implying to other customers that they class the change as being covered by this instead:


* 7.1.2. We can suspend, change, increase the price of or withdraw part or all of the Additional Services on giving active users of the Additional Service a reasonable period of Written Notice. The change will then apply to You once that notice has run out.


They are giving less than 30 days notice, to those they have contacted at all.


I think that Internet is clearly a core part of my contract and not an Additional Service. It is in the title of the product I ordered from BuyMobilePhones, the data limit was explicitly stated as a condition of sale, and Internet is printed on my bills alongside calls and texts.


Could you please advise on how to proceed? I suppose I can't technically use my right of cancellation under 2.11.2 when they don't give 30 days notice, but I think they're in breach of contract?

daleski75

This is what my contract shows and I am on a £35 a month x 24 months with a Samsung Omnia 7.

Your plan includes:
web surfing and e-mails
500 texts
Your minutes and texts are from the UK to UK mobile networks and numbers beginning 01, 02 and 03 (excluding Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man).
900 minutes
Your minutes and texts are from the UK to UK mobile networks and numbers beginning 01, 02 and 03 (excluding Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man).

BurningSnowman

T-M tweeted a link to this post 10 mins ago.

Absolutely unbelievable. They're not even going to contact those using less than 500MB last month. Going to send cancellation letter today; even if they COULD use the section 7 clause they're now in breach of contract regardless.

daleski75

Official thread from the T-Mobile forum

Hi All,

Earlier we began notifying our contract customers of changes to their Fair Usage Policies (FUPs) relating to data usage on mobile phones. In line with the industry, T-Mobile will be reducing its FUP for data downloading to 500MB/month from 1st February 2011.

These restrictions will affect both new and existing customers, and will ensure an improved quality of service for all of our mobile internet users. As the average mobile internet customer uses only 200MB of data each month, this will only affect a small minority of users, whom we have begun notifying.

T-Mobile will not charge its customers additional rates for exceeding these data limits, and those who do will still be able to access important services such as email and website browsing, but will have file downloading restricted. Customers who have a need for higher volumes of data will be encouraged to take up a separate mobile broadband plan. We are confident that these changes will result in a better experience for all of our customers who use internet on their phone.

Forum Team

Looks like this means for us 'high' users we are now forced to pay extra for the broadband plus which incidently on my £35 a month contract has increased from £5.00 to £12.00 so this is hardly fair now is it?

ispartacus75

What address are we sending cancellation notices to, and how do we get Martins attention about this thread and the overall subject?

lucylucky

daleski75 wrote: »

Official thread from the T-Mobile forum

Hi All,

Earlier we began notifying our contract customers of changes to their Fair Usage Policies (FUPs) relating to data usage on mobile phones. [STRIKE]In line with the industry, [/STRIKE] Irrelevant T-Mobile will be reducing its FUP for data downloading to 500MB/month from 1st February 2011.

These restrictions will affect both new and existing customers, and will ensure an improved quality of service for all of our mobile internet users. A[STRIKE]s the average mobile internet customer uses only 200MB of data each month, this will only affect a small minority of users, whom we have begun notifying. [/STRIKE] Irrelevant

T-Mobile will not charge its customers additional rates for exceeding these data limits, and those who do will still be able to access important services such as email and website browsing, but will have file downloading restricted. How will this happen? What restrictions will be put in place and when? Customers who have a need or just want for higher volumes of data will be encouraged in what way "encouraged"? to take up a separate mobile broadband plan. We are confident that these changes will result in a better experience for all of our customers who use internet on their phone. Reducing access to the internet will provide a "better experience" how exactly?

Forum Team

Looks like this means for us 'high' users we are now forced to pay extra for the broadband plus which incidently on my £35 a month contract has increased from £5.00 to £12.00 so this is hardly fair now is it?

Oh dear a lot of nonsense which means you will get less unless you wish to pay more.

Definitely a lot "fairier":cool:

shianatika

I had a missed call from T-mobile yesterday after my original call, so I phoned them back and spoke to someone who sounded a little more switched on this time. After I explained this change would be to my detriment and I wished to cancel I was put on hold, when he came back on he said that his supervisor had added the 3GB to my account and he insinuated I would also now be getting unlimited texts (usually 300). I asked for this in writing, text or email and he said he couldn’t as they didn’t want others to know about this, he asked me if I would keep “Mum” about this several times and I agreed.

I have the guys name and team number; I am not filled with confidence that they have actually put this on my account although they did ask me to turn my phone off and on which sounds promising?

N20Y1D

I have managed to locate the old Android 3bg T&C from before they inserted the line about buying direct from T-Mobile via phone store or internet (i bought my handset on the 8th of April so these T&Cs were in effect then as i called up T-Mobile at the time and quoted them:

Before:

Pay monthly plans which include internet on your phone on an Android phone You’ll need internet coverage, check it at t-mobile.co.uk/streetcheck. Remember that you can only use your internet on your phone Booster in the UK and you can’t use your phone as a modem or use web’n'walk Plus for peer to peer file sharing, or making internet phone calls. *Internet on your phone comes with a fair use policy of 3GB a month. We’ll monitor how much you send and receive each calendar month so that we can protect our network for all our internet on your customers. If you use more than your fair use policy amount, we won’t charge you any more, but we may restrict how you can use your plan, depending on how often you go over your amount and by how much. As your phone is always connected to the internet, if you remove your internet on your phone Plus Booster from your account you’ll automatically be charged up to £1 every day. That £1 a day rate has its own fair use policy and other legal stuff, which you can see here: t-mobile.co.uk/services/uk/fairuse/#fup5.

After:

Pay monthly plans which include internet on your phone on an Android phone
You’ll get internet on your phone Plus included if you join us on a pay monthly plan with an Android phone in a T-Mobile store, over the phone or via our website, t-mobile.co.uk. You’ll need internet coverage, check it at t-mobile.co.uk/streetcheck. Remember that you can only use your internet on your phone Plus Booster in the UK and you can’t use your phone as a modem or use Internet on your phone Plus for peer to peer file sharing, or making internet phone calls. *Internet on your phone Plus comes with a fair use policy of 3GB a month. We’ll monitor how much you send and receive each calendar month so that we can protect our network for all our internet on your customers. If you use more than your fair use policy amount, we won’t charge you any more, but we may restrict how you can use your plan, depending on how often you go over your amount and by how much. As your phone is always connected to the internet, if you remove your internet on your phone Plus Booster from your account you’ll automatically be charged up to £1 every day. That £1 a day rate has its own fair use policy and other legal stuff, which you can see here: t-mobile.co.uk/services/uk/fairuse/#fup5.

BurningSnowman

ispartacus75 wrote: »

What address are we sending cancellation notices to, and how do we get Martins attention about this thread and the overall subject?

Terms say

Unless otherwise stated in this Agreement, any notices from You to Us must be sent to: Customer Relations, T-Mobile, Hatfield Business Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9BW.

Although the part about cancelling out of contract says to call them, and the notes about cancelling early don't specify a method. I might try phoning first actually, but I think a letter by recorded delivery is a safe bet.